1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to shipping containers, and in particular, to a shipping container air-vent cover antenna housing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Shipping containers are used to transport goods all over the world. Many shipping containers are monitored to maintain a log of their whereabouts, as well as to monitor their estimated time of delivery to a given port or destination. There are over five million shipping containers in use today, and they typically transport over 500 billion dollars worth of goods into the United States on an annual basis.
In recent years, monitoring the flow of goods in these shipping containers has become more important. Since many goods are of higher value, the goods are under a larger threat of pilferage. Further, shipping containers could easily be tampered with to contain high explosives, or be used as a terrorist entry point into harbors and/or ports in the United States. The use of shipping containers for such purposes has been studied extensively by the Department of Homeland Security.
The current method of attaching tracking and/or monitoring devices is through the use of tape or other adhesives. The tape or adhesive material is used to affix the electronics boxes to the walls or ceiling of the container. The current method is very time consuming. Further, since this is typically done before the container is loaded and removed after the container is unloaded, additional loading time and unloading time is required for each container. Currently, using the tape and adhesive method, this attachment process for the electronic devices takes over an hour per container, to ensure that the electronics and associated wires that attach to an externally mounted antenna are not compromised by the container or the cargo within the shipping container.
The current method must also take into account that the cargo to be shipped in a given shipping container must not interfere with, damage, or otherwise contact the electronic devices. As such, the electronics devices and associated wires must be adhered to the container with excess tape and/or adhesive to ensure that any slight jarring of the container or of the electronic devices does not remove the electronic devices from their adhered positions.
Further, the electronics devices typically have antennas for transmission and reception of Radio Frequency (RF) signals, which can include Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, as well as cellular and other telecommunications signals. As such, some sort of antenna mount must be placed on the outside of the container. Since the cargo containers can be stacked on top of one another, the antenna must be mounted on the side of the cargo container to allow for transmission and reception of the RF signals. However, the antennas must be protected from damage, as well as protected from vandalism or tampering.
FIG. 1 illustrates a typical container. Container 100 is shown, with rail 102 running along the top and rail 104 running along the bottom. Typically, containers 100 that have vents contain vent ducts along the side panels at top rail 102 and bottom rail 104 to achieve a convection effect. Warm moist air is expelled via the upper ducts 106, where ducts 106 are typically holes drilled in wall 108, such that the warm moist air is replaced with colder ambient air via lower ducts (not shown).
The ducts 106 are currently used for air passage into and out of container 100. However, it can be seen that there is a need in the art for a device that makes it possible to mount an antenna on a cargo container where electronics are mounted inside of the container. It can also be seen that there is a need in the art for a device that makes installation of electronic devices on shipping containers easier and more efficient, and prevents damage or tampering with the antenna.